Push Rewind
by cathrynlai
Summary: Hermione Granger has finally made S.P.E.W. become a legal organization. She needs donations to run the organization and the first supporter is Draco Malfoy of all people! He insists Hermione to go to his birthday party to talk about the details of the donation, which Hermione initially refuses but gives in at last. What is Malfoy up to and what does he want from her?
1. The Big Day

**The Big Day**

The sun rises in a pool of crimson and gold, spilling light all over the land and the white clouds. Sunlight passes through the curtains in every house and apartment in London. A new day starts. It is 1st June, the day Hermione Granger has looked forward to since her graduation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She jumps out of her bed as her Muggle alarm clock rings. In fact, she does not need it to wake her up since she has been too jumpy and excited to be asleep. Excitement has made her stay up all night.

After finishing her daily morning routines, Hermione begins to search for something suitable to wear on her big day. Although the wardrobe looks small, it is enormous interiorly due to the very useful Undetectable Extension Charm. Hermione steps into her wardrobe where her every piece of clothing is placed in and starts her searching. It is like a clothing store more than a wardrobe. There is over a thousand piece of clothing nicely hung on the clothes stands by seasons and functions. Hermione heads to the summer section of the closet and starts looking through the formal clothing stand.

It does not take so long for Hermione to find her favourite piece as it is the most eye-catching one. It is an ankle length, V-neck scarlet dress. She removes it from the hanger and decides to wear this very Gryffindor item.

She puts the dress on before heading to the handbag shelf and matching it with a black leather Coach clutch. Then she steps out of the wardrobe and begins her work on her bushy brown hair. After spending extra time on fixing her hair and paying more attention to her appearance than usual, it is about time to leave home. She checks her whole outfit one last time to make sure that there are no imperfections. She will never let her annoying, stubborn hair ruin her most important day in her entire life.

"Perfect. I bet today will be a lovely day," She smiles at her image approvingly.

Then Hermione leaves her room to the parlor. She grabs a handful of Floo Powder before stepping into the fireplace.

"Headquarter of S.P.E.W.,"

After the spinning sensation stops, she takes a deep breath and steps out of the fireplace. Hermione is going to work for an organization called the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, also known as S.P.E.W., which is founded by herself at Hogwarts and is now officially approbated by the Ministry of Magic – it is a legal organization from now on. Today, she is going to let the whole wizarding world know about S.P.E.W., to raise the awareness of all the wizards and witches on elfish welfare. There will be many great wizards and journalists going to attend the promotion of S.P.E.W. due to the influence of Hermione to the society and the curiosity of most people.

S.P.E.W. is the first organization which aims at gaining rights for the house-elves, that is why it causes the eyes of the society. However, most witches and wizards are not supportive of the organization, especially the wealthy wizarding families as they don't want to lose their obedient servants. In spite of lacking support from the society, Hermione still adheres to found a group to help the elves. What people think can never affect Hermione Granger as she never cares how people think of her. She just does what she thinks is right.

She strides along the aisle to her new office and takes out her notes in the meanwhile, practising her speech for the hundredth time. She wants all the things to be done perfectly so the ceremony will go ideally.

After the two-hundredth practice, she shoots a glance at her watch – it is 11:30 am. The ceremony is going to begin within 30 minutes. She must go to the lecture hall now. She picks up her clutch and leaves the office.

"I better greets the attendants before the ceremony," she thinks. It is important to give a good impression to the guests, especially the officers from the Ministry and those influential and famous witches and wizards.

Walking downstairs, she practises her speech in her brain one last time.

"S.P.E.W. stands for…"

"We want to champion the rights of house-elves…"

At this moment, she is nervous but excited. She can feel her adrenaline running high, and her whole body is full of energy. The issues of the treatment of house-elves are going to become a popular topic. People are going to face the problems squarely. She has waited for this day to come for almost seven years. Today, she is going to succeed and can offer actual help to those magical creatures.

When she arrives the hall, there are about thirty to forty people, including journalists, officers, businessmen, and high-status witches and wizards. She strides to the crowd and begins to greet and thanks the guests.

"Thank you for managing to find your treasure time to come, Mr. Parkinson,"

"Mr. Bones, it's my pleasure to meet you here,"

"Mrs. Longbottom, nice to see you here. How's Neville?"

After the greetings, all the comers have found themselves a seat. Hermione is ready to be on the stage anytime. The ceremony is going to start within 5 minutes. Witches and wizards are immersing in their own conversations before the last comer opens the door and steps in.

The latecomer stops in front of the reception. He remains his left hand in his pocket and signs his name on the attendant parchment with the other hand -

 _Draco Malfoy._

All the guests fall silent, watching the latecomer walking into the hall. Hermione keeps staring at the Malfoy heir heading to her straightly, and the surroundings have become out of focus. She cannot help but keep her eyes on him in astonishment as she has never expected him to come to this kind of "time-wasting" event.

He is in his black tailor-made suit, something he likes to wear most of the time, with the first two buttons of the black shirt opened. There is a big contrast between his conspicuous white-blond hair and his black suit. The light rays are reflected by the very smooth blond hair of his which is glimmering under the lights. The identity of the comer becomes a temporary secret as his face is too bright to be seen. When he steps closer to where Hermione is standing with her chestnut eyes widened, everyone starts talking again.

"It's Draco Malfoy,"

"Never expect to see him in this kind of event,"

"I don't think the Malfoys will support the organization,"

There is no need for the others to tell who the man is. She has known him for more than a decade, and she knows him far too well. It is quite impossible for her to be not familiar with her ex-boyfriend, right? The reason she is shocked is she has never thought that he would come. She has never expected that this man is shameless enough to come to stand in front of her again after all the events. What does he want from her?

"Wow, what an unexpected guest," She says with a fake smile. Hermione squares her shoulders, trying not to seem too small against Malfoy's tall frame. "And Mr. Malfoy, I highly recommend you to buy yourself a watch,"

"As if I care to come to this kind of event on time! My time is precious. I come just because Father's asked me to come. Don't you think an influential wizarding family like Malfoys should, at least, designate one person to attend this kind of event, to show our concern for the social issues?" drawls Malfoy with his usual condescending attitude.

"Still being a daddy boy. I see," taunts Hermione.

"Ha, you think I'd listen to your nonsense willingly? Funny enough, Granger, or you think I come here because…" he smirks before leaning in and whisper into her ear. She can feel his breath sending her shivers. _"I miss you?"_

"Piss off, Malfoy," she grits.

"Sure. Good luck, Granger, hope I'll not fall asleep because of the boringness," Malfoy steps away from her, still smirking.

"Thank you," Hermione thanks him insouciantly, trying to maintain her good manners, but she does not bother to spare him a glance.

Right after Malfoy taking his seat, the ceremony starts. Hermione walks on the stage and beams at the attendants. Then, she begins giving out her speech.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Do you know how many times a house-elf self-harms itself in average per day? Once? Twice? No. A house-elf self-harms itself three times a day averagely. We can never imagine the pain of harming our own selves by ironing our hands, hitting our heads in the wall or in more painful ways. The house-elves are obedient servants, and they never say no to their masters although they have the magical power to fight back and disobey their masters. S.P.E.W. stands for…"

"We are going to start the Elves-free Sunday campaign. Elves need to have time to take rest and every Sunday, and we hope the masters can let the elves go to enjoy themselves and do what they want as a reward for working so hard. Elves are free on Sunday and can come to S.P.E.W. to enjoy their day. We are going to provide food, clothes and treatments for the elves so that they can be full of energy again and can work more efficiently on weekdays. We need your support, action and donation. We need capital to run the organization and the campaign. If you agree with our aims and want to do something for the elves, we hope you can take part into the campaign and become a Spewer. Let's take action to improve the treatment of house-elves. Thank you. Here comes the Q&A session. You can ask whatever you are confused about S.P.E.W. and our Elves-free Sunday campaign."

A hand is slowly raised into the air. Hermione freezes as she finds the owner of the hand.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?" she smiles stiffly.

"Malfoy Holdings will offer as much help as possible," Malfoy leans forward and says solemnly. "I'd like to donate,"

What Malfoy has just said arouses commotion. People start to whisper to each other in disbelief and journalist starts scribbling and taking pictures of Malfoy.

What the hell. Hermione has not prepared for this. Instead, she has expected him to say something to challenge her. What is the ferret planning to do? What is he up to? Is he just going to use Galleons to buy his family and company prestige? It is impossible for a Malfoy to be supportive of the organization.

"Thank you so much for supporting us, Mr. Malfoy. We're delighted to be supported by your company. We can talk about the details after the ceremony," she replies politely.

After a few questions asked by the journalists, the ceremony finally comes to the end. The guests leave their seats, and some are going. Hermione walks off the stage while Malfoy strides to her with his hands in the pockets.

"Touching, right?" Malfoy smirks. "I, of all people, am the first person who supports your bloody spew. Where are your Pothead and Weasel? Spewing at home?"

"Thank you very much, Malfoy, for being such a supportive ex," Hermione says sarcastically. "And for your information, Harry and Ron are on Auror missions, so they don't have time to come. If they came, they'd be the first to support me instead of you,"

"As if I'm interested in their whereabouts," he sneers. "By the way, I'm going to contact you about the donation later. See you soon, Granger,"

"Hope we don't see each other very soon," mutters Hermione, watching him leaving.

On that night, Hermione cannot help thinking about the confrontation between Malfoy and her. She keeps thinking about the moment when Malfoy whispers _"I miss you"_ in her ear. She still remembers how his hot breath has been sending her shivers and she hates the fact that she cannot stop thinking about him.

"Bastard," curses Hermione in her bed before she falls asleep.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry if there is any grammatical mistake because I'm not a native English speaker. This is the first ever fanfiction I have ever written. I ship Dramione so hard and it's my OTP. I really hope you like it and can leave a comment to tell me what you think about my work as I've put so much effort into it :)**


	2. The Birthday Party

**The Birthday Party**

"Come in," Hermione looks up from her work when she hears someone knocking her door.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy has owled us about the donation. He is planning to donate a million to us, and he needs more information of S.P.E.W.," reports Alice, Hermione's assistant breathlessly.

"Okay, thanks, Alice. I'll handle it," Hermione replies and gestures her to leave.

"There's one more thing, Miss Granger. Mr. Malfoy wants to invite you to his birthday party on 5th June. The details are on the invitation card. Here," Alice hands the yellow Post-it note and a Slytherin green card to Hermione before leaving.

Hermione opens the emerald card. It is simple-designed and has a silver birthday cake on it. She stares at the card in her hand.

 _Mr. Draco Malfoy's birthday party_

 _Date: 5th June_

 _Time: 6pm-11pm_

 _Place: Malfoy Manor_

"I won't go," she puts the card away. "Your birthday is none of my business, Draco Ferret Malfoy."

Hermione has spent her whole day to tidy up the information of S.P.E.W. She is planning to post the information on the Daily Prophet to let more people know about the organization in the attempt to get more donations from those people who agree with her ideas on the treatment of house-elves. It is not like that the money from Draco is not enough for the running of the organization. A million of Galleons are an enormous amount of money, but Hermione does not trust Draco. She thinks that Draco will not actually donate the money, and he just wants to use the money to toy her in his dirty hands, to forbidden her to oppose him. She will not let him succeed. She has to get more donations so that she can reject the money from Draco.

She looks at the already sorted out materials on the desk in satisfaction. Finally, she has finished the work and can send it to the editor of the Daily Prophet. The information will be in the newspaper tomorrow hopefully, and she is more close to getting rid of Draco. However, there is only an owl in S.P.E.W., so, she can only choose to owl the materials to the Daily Prophet or to Draco first. She prefers the former.

On the next day, Hermione gets herself a Daily Prophet. She scans through the advertisement page quickly, but she cannot find the advertisement of S.P.E.W. But, she can find it after scanning the newspaper twice.

"What?" Hermione squeaks and smacks the paper onto the table. "How can they put the advertisement in the corner and make it this small! The words are just as small as the ones in the dictionary! How can the readers see it! It is supposed to be seen by the readers!"

Therefore, Hermione decides to write to the editor to ask him to place her advertisement right in the middle and have it three times bigger in the next day Prophet. It's not like that she can owl the information to Draco today. She has to handle the ad problems first, they are more urgent.

At last, she has succeeded in having the S.P.E.W. ad in the most conspicuous place on the advertisement page. One wizard has decided to donate twenty Galleons to S.P.E.W. It does not help a lot but is better than none.

Hermione is feeling much better after knowing someone agrees with her opinions and supports S.P.E.W. She even hums songs before receiving a note from Draco Malfoy.

 _"Granger,_

 _When can I get the information of your bloody spew from you? If you have time to put an advertisement on the Daily Prophet, why the fucking hell don't you owl the information to me! I also need the proposal of Elves-freak Sunday, whatever you call it. I need to know how you'd use the million Galleons. I want all the materials on 5th June (tomorrow). Otherwise, I won't give a single knut to you and your spew._

 _P.S. I need your explanation. I will be in the Manor at the 5-11pm. You can apparate to the Manor freely with the invitation card._

 _-Malfoy"_

"That bastard!" she clenches her fist along with the note. "I don't even have a choice! I have to go to his birthday party even I don't want to. Merlin! Today is 4th June! I have to finish the proposal by today! You didn't ask me to prepare it before, and you just give me one day to finish! Damn you, Malfoy!"

She shoots a glance at her watch. It's 1 pm. She probably has to work overtime to complete the proposal.

"You can do it, Hermione!" Hermione encourages herself and starts working hard as though she is preparing for N.E.W.T. again.

At about 9 pm, Hermione, who is stretching her sore arms, sighs in pleasure. She has done it even it is some impossible task from the cunning Malfoy. He wants her to fail to prepare the proposal so that he can have an excuse to not donating the million Galleons and shirk all the responsibilities to her and S.P.E.W., also ruin the reputation of her. "Malfoy, you loser!"

* * *

In the afternoon of 5th June, Hermione tidies all the materials up one last time before going home to change her outfit. She has to attend Draco Loser Malfoy's 22th birthday party, not to enjoy her weekend night but to work, to explain the details of the Elves-free Sunday to Malfoy. Actually, Malfoy has used all his means to force her to go to his party, and Hermione knows.

"He must know that I'd not attend. He knows that I'm still mad at him! He just wants to use S.P.E.W. as an excuse to force me to go to his bloody party!" she mutters hysterically while removing the strapless navy blue chiffon evening dress from the hanger.

She dresses nicely is not because she is going to see Malfoy, but because she is going to meet a lot of high-status witches and wizards in the party. Malfoy has probably invited many wealthy and influential people to the party. She has to give attention to her look and manners. She matches her dress with all black items; a black satin clutch, jet-black beaded coil bracelet, a pair of sparkly black gems chandelier earrings and black suedette platform.

As she is ready to go, she puts the Slytherin green invitation card into her clutch and Apparate to Malfoy Manor, holding the materials Malfoy wants in her hands. When she feels her feet are on the ground again, she opens her eyes and finds herself in the entrance hall of the Manor. There are portraits hanging on the walls of the dimly lit, sumptuously decorated hallway, where the stone floor is covered with a magnificent carpet.

There is no one in the entrance hall. Hermione cannot help thinking whether she comes too early. When she is staring at the portraits and the names under them, someone interrupts her with a cough. She looks up from the portrait of Armand Malfoy and turns around.

"Malfoy?"

"There's no need for being surprised that seeing me in my family house, Granger," Malfoy drawls. He is wearing a white dress shirt and a pair of black jeans. "By the way, enjoy the party tonight,"

"I'm here to bring you the proposal and explain it to you. After that, I'll leave. It's only half past four, if we start now, we may finish the work before the party," she says diplomatically, entirely ignores his tease.

"I'm not in the mood now, maybe we can talk about it after the party," he says lazily while turning his back to her and starting to walk away.

"Hey! Malfoy!" shouts Hermione, who is following him into the drawing room.

"We can talk about it later, Granger," Malfoy waves his hand, annoyed.

"I'm going to leave then. I'll be back at 11 pm,"

"If you don't stay, I won't give your spew a knut,"

Hermione glares at Malfoy, who is sitting on the couch. However, it is not the couch in the drawing room but Malfoy's room. She has kept following him and yelling at behind, so she does not even notice that she has walked upstairs and walked along the corridor to his room.

"Granger, don't you have manners?" Malfoy sneers as he starts unbuttoning his shirt. "Want to see me naked?"

"Of course, I have manners! On the contrary, you start taking off your clothes in front of a woman who don't even want to see you naked! You're the one without manners, Malfoy!"

"Well, this is my room, Granger. I'm supposed to change my clothes in my room, don't you think so?" Malfoy stands up and strides towards Hermione, who has finally noticed where she is and is walking away from him, trying to leave the room. However, her back hits the wall, and she is now cornered by Malfoy. Bracing himself with a hand on the wall, he leans in and whispers in her ear, "I guess you just miss my bedroom and miss the old time when we're having so much fun in this room, so, you came here without notice, am I right, Hermione?"

Hermione shivers as she feels his hot breath tickling her neck. It has been so long for her to hear him saying her name. She totally misses it. It feels so right.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" whispers Malfoy seductively. "You're such a naughty girl, Hermione,"

"I don't know… how I've come up here," stammers Hermione breathlessly. She is gazing at his fair chest and muscles as all the buttons of the shirt has been opened.

"Well, Hermione,"

"Yes?"

"When can you leave my room?" laughs Malfoy, who is no longer talking in a seductive way. _"Do you really want me to fuck you?"_

Hermione blinks for a while before knowing what is going on. Glaring at him, she pushes him away from her and runs out of the room. She is stupid, very stupid. She has almost given herself to Malfoy again! She has been terribly hurt by Malfoy once before, and she does not need to have the second time. She is the brightest witch of her age after all. She should not be tricked by Malfoy again.

When she gets back to the drawing room, she finds that about twenty people have arrived. She can recognize some of the comers as they are her former schoolmates, all from Slytherin for sure.

"Granger, I think that you and Draco are over," Pansy approaches her and says coolly with her arm crossed. She is in a cage back bodycon dress with a gold necklace.

"Yes. Actually, I'm here for work,"

"I see." The coldness in Pansy's voice has disappeared. "By the way, remember to prepare yourself for the games," Pansy treats people from other houses and even Muggle-borns much better after the war though she and Hermione never get along well as Hermione has "stolen" Malfoy from her. But now, the wall between them seems to have disappeared.

"Games? What games?"

"There's a tradition of having a game session every year of Draco's birthday. Draco told me that he'd been interested in the Muggle game hide and seek. Probably hide and seek,"

"Thanks, Pansy," smiles Hermione. "Good to see you again,"

Leaving Pansy behind, Hermione walks to the long table where the beverages are placed. She gets herself a glass of champagne to wait for the party to get started. She does not look forward to the outset of the party. She just wants the time to pass faster so that she can explain the proposal to Malfoy, and so her job can be done. Why did Pansy ask her to prepare herself for hide and seek? Hide and seek is just a simple Muggle kid games. She just has to prevent anyone to see her and hide well. Easy for Hermione Granger. She only needs to cast a brilliant Invisibility Charm on herself.

"Hey, Hermione Granger!" someone calls her.

"Blaise, hi! Nice to see you here!" Hermione greets the Italian who is wearing a lavender shirt and a dark purple tie with a navy suit.

"I never think that I'd see you here, at the Manor!" smiles Blaise. "Haven't you and Draco broken up a long time ago? Are you two back together?"

"You're not the first one who asks me about our relationship," sighs Hermione. "Malfoy and I are over, and we are never getting back together. I come merely because I have a job to do for Malfoy,"

"I hope it's not a blowjob," he jokes cheerfully. "If he's going to have one from you, I want one too,"

She rolls her eyes at his witty joke.

"I'm here to give him the proposal of a campaign called Elves-free Sunday and explain him the details of it only. Nothing personal involved,"

"Speaking of House-elves, congratulations for finally doing your dream job. Your speech is such a success. I'm sorry for not attending such an important day of yours. I was in Italy with Mamma,"

Hermione and Blaise Zabini have been friends since the sixth year as they were both in the Slug Club. They are both intelligent, and they usually discussed on their studies and homework during the meeting and soon, they were on first name terms. Blaise was almost like her study companion which Harry and Ron would never be. She always needed to explain everything to Harry and Ron and even needed to supervise their homework. She was never on the same page with her Gryffindor friends when it came to studies.

"I'd try to enjoy the party if I were you. Although you are even more gorgeous than last time I saw you, you should take some rest from work. Otherwise, you're going to age quickly," says Blaise softly and tugs the loose curls behind her ear in the meantime.

"I'll try my best to enjoy it. Thanks," she takes a sip of champagne.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. The party is going to begin. Today is the 22th birthday of Mr. Draco Malfoy, the CEO of Malfoy Cooperate Group. Let's play some games to liven up the party, shall we?" says the MC of the party, Astoria Greengrass, who is standing on the small stage at the other side of the drawing room, with her wand pointing at her throat. "We're going to play a Muggle kid game called hide and seek. I'll let Draco tell us how to play the game,"

"Someone is going to be 'it.' We're going to determine who will be 'it' by ballot. 'It' needs to stay in the drawing room for thirty seconds to give time for the others to hide. They have to catch the other players. If 'it' can catch all the players, 'it' wins; if other players can come back here, they win and 'it' loses. Besides that, 'it' can play the game with the help of their wand while the others have to put their wands on the long table next to the beverage table. You can get them back after the game. But remember, you cannot leave the Manor during the game. Is it clear enough? By the way, the winner is going to have a secret prize from me," explains Malfoy brightly. Malfoy has changed into a black slim fit shirt with emerald green stitching and contrasting collar.

"Pansy's right. He's really going to let us play hide and seek," mumbles Hermione to herself.

Everyone has to pick up a piece of paper out of a top hat which is holding by Malfoy. There are two types of paper in the hat, paper with an 'it' written on it or a plain paper. Malfoy moves to Hermione when Blaise has taken one out of the hat.

"Good luck, Granger," smirks Malfoy.

Hermione picks the first piece of paper her fingers have touched and slowly opens it. There is no 'it' written on it. It is just a blank white paper.

"Lucky me," she smiles, relieved. She just needs to hide well or runs faster back to the drawing room to win the game.

"I really hope that we are on the same team. I'm 'it'!" Blaise sends a glance at her paper and expresses his disappointment.

After all the guests have taken a piece of paper from the hat, Astoria asks people who are not 'it' to raise their hands. Hermione feels strange about the instruction as most of the guests are not 'it', but she raises her hand up anyway before she has found that she is the only one with her hand raised.

 _"So, Miss Granger has to give in her wand until the game ends. Miss Granger, you have 30 seconds to prepare yourself to hide from and run away from all the 'it's, while the others have to try your best to keep her from getting back here."_


	3. The Game

**The Game**

 _WHAT?_

It is not like any hide and seek Hermione has played before. Hermione has to stay away from about fifty wizards, wandless. She can be caught quickly only by an Accio. It is impossible for her to win the game which Draco Idiot Malfoy calls it hide and seek.

"The real hide and seek is not like this. There should be one 'it' only, instead of having all the people become 'it's and one person being caught," Hermione states.

"Granger, the hide and seek you've played before are the Muggle's version. This is the Wizard's version. You can choose not to play this game and go home to play the Muggle's version with your neighbours if you want to and prove yourself to be a Muggle," Malfoy taunts, making some of the guests including Goyle laugh. He surely knows how to play with Hermione's mind.

Despite being laughed by some Slytherins, Hermione does not feel humiliated. She has promised to herself to win the game, to show that she being called the Brightest Witch of Her Age is not for nothing.

"I'm not a Muggle. I'm a witch. I'm going to play and win this game, Malfoy," Hermione strides to Astoria confidently and hands out her vine wood wand, glaring at Malfoy at the same time.

"As Miss Granger is wandless now, she has given 30 seconds to run and hide. After 30 seconds, all the 'it's can start seeking with their wands but remember, you are not available to use Accio directly on Miss Granger as Mr. Malfoy wants the game to be more entertaining. The game is going to start within three seconds. Three. Two. One. Start," Astoria turns the 30-second hourglass upside down when she says the last word.

Hermione starts running upstairs to the north wing of the Manor. She begins to regret about putting herself in a maxi dress and a pair of 5-inches high heels. They are giving her so much trouble and keeping her from running faster. When she sees the end of the corridor, she hears commotion in the drawing room. 30 seconds have passed. People are now running to chase her. She clenches her fists and runs as fast as she can and turns right, heading to the east wing before any wizard see her.

"Where is she? She can't be so far!" she hears someone asks hoarsely.

"Can someone cast a Four-point Spell? The Manor is like a maze,"

"Is there any spell which can lead us to where Granger is?"

Hermione is bracing herself on the wall, panting and gasping for air. She is exhausted, but she does not want to lose this stupid game or see the smug face of Malfoy. She has to leave as soon as possible before someone gets any great idea to catch her. Biting her lower lip, she begins to run again, and her suedette platforms produce loud noise every time they hit the marble floor.

"Guys, did you hear something?"

"Sound of high heels!"

Hermione tries her best to sprint faster towards the room at the end of the corridor but before she can reach the handle of the door, someone yells behind her.

"She's over there! Catch her!"

As the wizards are closer and closer to her, she takes off her platforms and throws them to the men. One of the shoes has hit right into Goyle's face which makes him moan in pain. Then she decides to keep running instead of hiding in the room. But out of her expectation, she is hit by a Leg-Locker Curse. She can only bunny-hop all her way to the nearest room.

"Hermione, I'm coming," she hears Blaise teasing behind. Blaise, who has been a Chaser, is one of the fittest men, and she knows what is going to happen to her even if she has mustered all of her strength to hop faster.

He can almost touch her when she bounces to the right. She closes her eyes and bites her lower lips, frustrated and ready to be caught by the Italian. Then she feels a hand on her shoulder, and she has the feeling that she is pressed very hard from all direction. She cannot breathe at all.

She opens her eyes again and finds that she is no longer in the corridor but in a dark room. Blinking to adapt to the darkness, she just figures what has just happened.

"Did we just apparate?"

"We did,"

"Apparition is barred in the Manor grounds. How did you-"

"The heir of Malfoy can, of course, apparate in his family house, Granger," the man drawls behind.

Hermione's eyes widen in shock as she recognizes the voice by the way he has just addressed her and his cockney accent.

"Malfoy, what do you think you are playing at?" spits Hermione, aware of the hand which is still on her shoulder.

"I'm helping you!"

"I can win on my own. I don't need your help-" she chokes on her words since Malfoy covers her mouth with his another hand, pushing her against the wall.

"Shush," he leans in and whispers. "They're outside,"

She can hear voices outside the room. The men are looking for her.

"Where's she?"

"Zabini could almost catch her,"

"Did you let her go because you're interested in her?" a grumpy voice asks. Goyle owns it for sure.

"Of course not!" another man replies, feeling accused. "By the way, how did you know that I'm interested in her?"

What? Blaise is interested in her? She feels her face heated up and butterflies in her stomach. She is so flattered that an attractive man like Blaise will be interested in her of all people even though she does not feel the same way. She knows that she is just the brightest witch of her age, but also the most insufferable know-it-all, no one really likes her at the bottom of their hearts, except her parents and best friends.

"Never being wanted by a man ever? Look at your face! If I don't know far too well, I'd say you're still a virgin," Malfoy accuses while letting go of her mouth.

"Not everyone is like you, Malfoy! The others can see the best in me and like me!"

Malfoy glares and purses his lips, not able to retort to the statement. He then releases her shoulder and steps away to the door. Hermione sighs and feels relieved since Malfoy is not too close to her anymore. She tries to head to the door too, but she loses her balance. She has forgotten that she has been hit by a Leg-Locker Curse. Therefore, she falls forward and seizes the nearest things she can lay her hands on. She grips on the hem of Malfoy's shirt, pushing him forward with no intention. They both go head along, with Hermione on top of Malfoy's back.

"Ouch!" groans Malfoy.

"Sorry, the Leg- Locker Curse," says Hermione, who is trying to crawl away from Malfoy and stand up, which she fails, and her hips hit the floor with a thud.

Malfoy cannot help but laugh while sitting up in the meantime.

"Stop laughing and free my legs,"

"Why should I?" chuckles Malfoy. He cannot stop laughing at the awkward state of Hermione. He has almost forgotten the way to laugh genuinely. It is like ages ago that he has actually laughed. It reminds him of the time when they were still together, always laughing and enjoying each other's company, just like normal lovers. But everything has changed. Everything is ruined by his very own hands.

"You said that you'd help," Hermione crosses her arms.

"Did I?" Malfoy takes out his Hawthorn wand and fiddling it in front of Hermione, showing that he has no intention to do the counter-curse for her. "Beg for it,"

"Ferret, you're going to regret if you don't do the counter-curse for me," grits Hermione.

"Is that so?"

Hermione knocks him down and catches him off guard. Being on top of him, she feels Malfoy's hand on the small of her back. His pewter eyes are staring straight into her chocolate ones. Even in the dark, she swears she has seen affability in his usually cold eyes.

 _"Hermione,"_

It feels so right. The way how he pronounces her name. She never realizes that she misses it all the time.

Please say it again.

"I mean, _Granger_ –" but he does not. He moves his hand to her face and rubs it slightly with his thumb. "You're thinner than before. Do you still always forget to eat at work?"

She shakes her head, enjoying the intimacy between them.

"I'll be very disappointed if you keep doing this,"

In a slight moment, she thinks that he still loves her and cares about her before he says, "Because the others will probably question my taste in women,"

Understanding what he means, she snatches his wand from his other hand and points it at its own master.

"How dare you!"

"Hey, calm down, Granger," reassures Malfoy, who has his hands up in surrender underneath the furious Gryffindor. "Today is my birthday! You can't kill the birthday boy!"

"I'm not killing you. I'm just going to send you my blessing, birthday boy." Hermione smiles evilly.

* * *

Hermione has freed her legs with Malfoy's wand before running downstairs back to the drawing room with bare feet. No one is chasing her, and she is back to her destination successfully. She feels thankful for still remembering every corner of the Manor very well.

"Miss Granger has been back to the drawing room. Congratulations, Miss Granger for winning the game. Guests, you may come back to the drawing room to enjoy the food," Astoria Greengrass announces with the help of the Amplifying Charm and hands Hermione back her vine wood wand and Hermione casts a simple Accio to gather her heels back.

A few minutes later, guests begin to fill the room again and so the chattering and laughter.

"Before starting the buffet, we'd like to have Mr. Malfoy to give a few words. Mr. Malfoy, please,"

The guests stop chatting and turn to the stage.

"Mr. Malfoy? It's your time to congratulate the winner of the game," Astoria speaks without amplifying. "Mr. Malfoy?"

"Where the heck is Draco?" Blaise, who is standing next to Hermione, says. "Goyle is going to be annoyed for making him wait so long for the meal,"

Hermione cannot help but snickers, as she thinks about the state Malfoy, is now in. He is probably still struggling to get back his wand, which is placed at the far corner of the room after Hermione has freed her legs.

"What are you laughing at?" Blaise squints at her.

"Nothing," she calms herself down and tries her best to keep herself from laughing.

"You face has told me that there are naughty things in your mind. You know where Draco is, right?"

Hermione looks at the Slytherin in front of her and nods.

"Ha, I knew it! Did you beat him up and lock him upstairs?" Blaise keeps his voice low and asks. A smug smile appears on his handsome face.

"No, I tied him up with an Incarcerous as a birthday blessing from me,"

The black Slytherin, who appears to be elegant, all the time laughs so hard at what Hermione has just told him.

"Genius, Hermione! But I think we should go to find him now. We can't let the guests wait so long,"

Hermione agrees and leads Blaise upstairs to the room where Draco is left, tied up.

Blaise opens the door and steps into the dark room, followed by the brunette witch. He illuminates the candles with his wand before they see the figure of a man tied up with ropes around his whole body, except his head and neck, on the floor and squirming toward the dark corner of the room.

 _"Drakey! My poor boy!"_ Blaise runs towards the almost immobile wizard who is lying on the floor. He suppresses his urge to laugh and says in a motherly way. _"Mommy is here! Mommy is going to save you, dear!"_

"Shut the fuck up and free me already," Malfoy glares at his friend and curses. "Fuck that stupid Granger for putting me in this state! My father will hear about this!"

"I beg your pardon?" Hermione walks to the blond wizard and stands in front of him, with her hand crossed in front of her chest.

"I say _FUCK YOU, GRANGER!_ "

"Blaise, just leave him here like this. We're going to enjoy the food downstairs," Hermione smiles hypocritically and heads to the door. "Goodbye, Draco. We'll miss you so much,"

"Bye, man," Blaise says brightly.

 _"NOOOOOOOO! YOU CAN'T TREAT THE BIRTHDAY BOY LIKE THIS!"_ Malfoy tries his best to squirm towards the door.

"Actually, I can," the witch smiles.

 _"FREE ME NOW! BLAISE, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE MY FRIEND!"_

"Sorry, man," the Italian shrugs.

"If you asked politely, I'd have let you go already, Malfoy. Say _'please,_ '"

"Malfoys don't say 'please,'"

"Then stay here forever and die of starvation. Goodbye, Malfoy," Hermione takes a few steps forward.

 _"NO! WAIT! I'LL SAY IT! JUST GET THE ROPES RID OF ME! PLEASEEEEEEEEEE!"_

"Who're you speaking to, may I ask?"

 _"GRANGER! PLEASE!"_

"Alright," the Gryffindor points her wand at the poor man and unties him. Then, she does not even bother to shoot a glance at him and walks out of the room.

Malfoy stands up and kicks the ropes away, frustrated.

 _"DAMN GRANGER! AND YOU, BLAISE! YOU TRAITOR!"_

"Sorry, man," Blaise apologizes again. "I'm interested in Granger. I was trying to impress her,"

 _"WHAT? YOU LIKE GRANGER?_ No, that's not the point- I mean, I'm less important than a fucking woman to you?"

"Well, you know I'll do anything for a lady I want," Blaise shrugs. "Let's go. The guests are still waiting for you. By the way, you look pathetic."


	4. Waltz and Tango

**Waltz and Tango**

"Draco, where did you go? The guests have already waited for about 15 minutes!" Astoria hurries to Malfoy, who is flanked by Blaise.

"I'm sorry to make you all wait so long. There's something happened upstairs, and it's cost me some time to deal with it," Malfoy heads to the stage and says with his amplified, calm voice. "Anyway, let's talk about the game we've just played. Every year, I select a winner who can have a special prize from me by playing games. It's become a tradition. This year, we're delighted to have Miss Granger here and become the Winner of the Year. She is going to receive a very special prize. I'll tell Miss Granger the details of the prize personally. It'll be a little secret between us. Let's now enjoy the food."

Malfoy snaps his fingers when he says the last word. The chamber orchestra starts to play a very relaxing clarinet concerto by Mozart and food appears on the long tables at the side of the room. Although the amount of food is not as much as that of the feast at Hogwarts, it is still spectacular. Hermione is supposed to be judging and complaining about the treatment on the house-elves in this situation. But something else has got her attention.

What is the point to keep it secret? What Malfoy is going to give her?

Hermione heads to the tables on the side and gets herself some food. When she is helping herself to some treacle tarts, someone with a squeaky voice opens a conversation with her.

"Granger, congratulations for becoming the Winner of the Year," Pansy Parkinson says jealously.

"Thanks,"

"The last time I have won the game was on Draco's 15th birthday. I'd got the chance to share a night with him! It's my happiest moment in my life! We'd-"

Hermione's ears start to filter out what Pansy has said, and she leaves, the black hair witch behind who is still looking back the happiest time with Malfoy and keeps talking, without even notice the Gryffindor has walked away to the corner of the room.

"Pansy has probably got a one-night stand," thinks Hermione and sits at a small table at the back of the chamber. "Who'd ever want this kind of prize? What an arrogant, self-centred person,"

"What's bothering our little Hermy?" Blaise sits down opposite her and asks, holding two glasses of red currant rum.

"What do you think Malfoy is going to give me?"

"I don't know. Something that's a torment to you, but a pleasure to him, I suppose," the Slytherin hands her a glass of rum. "You know, what you've done to him earlier has made him more than furious. He'd like to revenge,"

"I'll be ready for his stupid revenge," the witch swirls the alcoholic beverage and stares at the red colour insouciantly.

As time passes, Hermione gradually cares less about the prize and thoroughly enjoy the conversation with Blaise. They talk about almost everything. Blaise has told her that he used to spend his summer in Italy with his mom, the life there and how the culture is different from England. Hermione always loves to hear about different culture and historical background of other countries.

"We, Italian treats women with our hearts,"

"Mhm," Hermione takes a sip of her rum and nods approvingly.

The rhythm of the music has changed unwittingly. It is now in the beat of three, first strong beat followed by two weak beats. The orchestra is playing a slow waltz by Strauss.

"Well, we may go clubbing, but when we find the one who is worth devoted to, we hardly look away or take a look at other witches," Blaise stands up and bows with his hand. "May I have this dance, please?"

Hermione places her hand on his with a smile and lets him lead her to the dance floor.

The Italian wizard puts his right hand to cup her shoulder-blade to lead the dance. The other wizards and witches see the pair and join them on the dance floor.

"Our hearts are not large enough to accommodate more than one witch," Blaise continues their conversation while leading the spin turn. "You're now the only witch in my heart, Hermione,"

"Ha ha ha, so funny. You must be drunk, Blaise," Hermione apparently does not believe what she has just heard.

"I'll never get drunk because of a few glasses of alcohol. I'm not joking. Hermione, do you want to go out with me?" Blaise slides his hand down from her shoulder to her waist and pulls her closer.

"Blaise, I-"

"Hate to interrupt, but your dance is over. It's my turn, mate," someone interjects and grabs Hermione's wrist forcefully from Blaise.

 _"What the heck, Malfoy!"_ Hermione tries to pull her wrist back, but Malfoy has held it too tightly.

"Quiet, Granger. You surely don't want to look like those vulgar women in the club, right? Then just finish this dance with me and I'll let you go," says Malfoy lazily with a fake smile.

The music is now in the beat of four with the first and last beats strong and the rest weak. The melody is no longer as exquisite and gentle as the waltz but sounds more rebellious and mysterious.

Malfoy raises his left-hand wraps his right arm around Hermione, placing his hand on her back, center slightly below her shoulder blades. Hermione raises her right hand to his left and places her left arm around him, with her hand on the centre of his back. Before she has prepared herself for the tango, Malfoy has already let her waist go and taken a step forward, causing her to take a significant step behind, away from Malfoy, with her right arm completely straight.

On the quick step, Malfoy pulls her back and leads the dance. There are tons of turns and swivels. Hermione is starting to feel dizzy and to Hermione, the dance seems like forever and never going to end.

"What do you want from me?" the witch asks when she is doing progressive rocks.

"Are you going to say 'yes' earlier?" Malfoy ignores her question and throws her one instead.

"What?" frowns Hermione, who does not know what the blond means.

 _"Tango is not as gentle as the waltz. It's more unpredictable and passionate,"_

While Hermione is still wondering what to say, Malfoy takes a step toward her and inserts a leg between hers. She instinctively wraps one of her legs around his while Malfoy moves the hand, which is initially holding her hand, to her legs. Gliding the hand up to her thigh, he brings her into a dipping position, and she leans back slightly. The dance has finally ended. Pushing her back by her waist to help her stand on her feet, Malfoy moves a hand to her face. He rubs her cheek gently with his thumb.

"Waltz or Tango do you think it suits you more?" he speaks in her ear breathlessly.

Before she can answer, he lets her go and strides out of the dance floor to a small crowd of witches, who are fighting for the chance to dance with the Slytherin Prince. "Hi, ladies. Who's next?"

Hermione stands on the dance floor, like, forever, staring at the back of the blond who is now flirting with the witches. Feeling a bit being used and hurt, she finally walks back to her table where Blaise is sitting at.

"Nice dance, Hermione! Never want to admit though, Draco is really the best at dancing," blasts Blaise. "But there's too much unnecessary body contact, don't you think - Hermione, are you crying?"

Not knowing that the tears streaming down her cheeks before her friend has told her, she quickly turns around and rubs away the liquid. Blaise stands up and hands her his lilac silk handkerchief. Placing an arm around her shoulder and decided not to say a word, he leads her to sit on the couch at the back of the room. Hermione places her head on his shoulder and wipes away her tears with the silk cloth.

"I'm sorry for being emotional. I'm on my period," lies Hermione. She feels like a silly school girl, crying for someone who no longer has any feelings for her and does not care about her. Malfoy is supposed to be unable to waver her mind and her heart anymore. Why did she feel sad when Malfoy left her behind to flirt with other witches? She knows that he is not worth it, but she just cannot resist the urge to cry.

Blaise, of course, knows that she is just lying. He knows the girl does not want to admit that she is sad because of Malfoy. But he does not say anything, pretending to accept and believe the lie.

It is about half past 10. Some guests begin to leave. Blaise invites Hermione to dance again when she has calmed herself down. The tempo of the music is very slow, and it is easy to tell that people who are dancing are mainly couples as they are both just cuddling and chatting. Goyle is holding Millicent Bulstrode's waist and they are dancing awkwardly. Suddenly, Bulstrode cups Goyle's chubby cheeks and presses her lips on her and kisses him passionately, causing Hermione to smile.

Hermione wraps her arms around Blaise's neck while the Italian places his on her waist and starts doing little steps with the slow and soothing music.

"I'm really happy to see you again, Hermione," whispers Blaise.

"Me too,"

"I hope you consider what I've asked earlier. I'm serious," he places a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Write to me no matter you're happy or sad. I'm always here for you,"

They do not talk afterwards, purely enjoying each other's company. When the hour hand of the grandfather clock points at 11, it starts striking, which means Draco Malfoy's 22th Birthday Party has finally come to the end.

"Thanks for coming today. You're more than welcome to use the Floo to go," Malfoy speaks to the guests and directs them to the fireplace.

"We should go now. We can continue in my family house," says Blaise with a hint of disappointment in his tone because of the disturbance.

"Sorry, Blaise, but I still have work to do for Malfoy,"

"Oh, I forgot. Okay then, I'm sure that we'll have the chance sometime. Take care," he pulls her into an embrace and presses his lips on her hair before heading to the fireplace. He is the last person who steps into the fireplace and floos back home. There are no more people in the drawing-room other than Hermione and Malfoy.

"Granger, come," speaks Malfoy nonchalantly. He walks upstairs without turning back to check if she is following as though he is sure about that she will obey what he has said.

Hermione gathers her things and walks behind Malfoy. She is now feeling a bit nervous after all the events happened at the party. The things have happened tonight make her have the feeling that she is almost incapable of working professionally alone with him. A few steps ahead, Malfoy opens the door of a room with a flick of his wand and gestures her to enter.

"We're not doing it in your study?" the brunette asks as she finds she is in Malfoy's bedroom.

"I'm tired. I want to work in a more comfortable place," drawls Malfoy matter-of-factly. He asks her to sit and walks to the cupboard to get a bottle of Firewhisky in the meantime.

He slumps himself on the couch and places the whisky on the table. She takes her seat at the end of the sofa, keeping her distance from him. While she is taking out her proposal from her Undetectable Extension Charmed clutch, he is pouring the brown spirit into two shot glasses. He hands her a shot.

"You may start now,"

Hermione places the shot glass on the table, as she never drinks at work and begins to explain the campaign of Elves-free Sunday and how S.P.E.W. would use the million Galleons if he donates.

"We'd divide the money into four main parts. First, a part of the money would be used for the Elves-free Sunday campaign, mainly for buying facilities and clothes for the elves so that they can come to our centre to use them and to relax on every Sunday. They'd be able to relax from all the stress…" explains Hermione professionally. She does not notice Malfoy is not paying attention to her, but to the bottle of liquor. He has already drunk five shots of it during her explanation.

"The second part of the money, it'd be used for-"

"What did you say?" Malfoy puts down the shot glass on the table and stares at her in confusion with his flat silver eyes.

Hermione looks up to the wizard who is now with reddened cheeks, then to the whisky on the side table. There is only a little left in the bottle. She sighs as she knows whatever she speaks to Malfoy now, he'll never remember. There is no point of presenting the proposal when he is not listening. She takes her shot of Firewhisky and pours it all into her mouth coherently.

"Mr. Malfoy, we'll talk about it someday. I'm leaving now. Good night," she stands up and has decided to leave, but find Malfoy is grabbing her wrist.

 _"Granger, we're not done,"_

"You're drunk. We can't continue,"

"Are you going to see Blaise?"

"No,"

"Are you two together?"

"No,"

"Liar,"

"You believe it or not, but no,"

Malfoy suddenly chuckles and pulls her by her wrist forcefully, causing Hermione losing her balance and lying on the couch. He straddles her and cages her in his slender but strong arms.

 _"Then it's fine for me to do this,"_

Hermione smells the alcohol, which lingers on his breath. He starts pressing his lips on her neck and kissing down to her collarbone. She begins to feel a flush of heat rush through her body like an electric shock. Her rational side knows that she should not let Malfoy do this to her or else she is going to regret it, but she cannot resist the sensation on her skin. After a moment of nibbling and sucking on her neck, he moves his lips to her.

He lightly brushes his lips over hers and kisses her gently at first. But then, he sweeps his tongue over her lower lip, and she takes the sign and opens her mouth to let his tongue slide in. His tongue begins to explore every corner of her mouth. Hermione is completely controlled by her ecstasy. Unconsciously, she wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him closer and deepens the kiss. The kiss is passionate, wild.

Suddenly, he pulls away, leaving Hermione wondering and feeling disappointed.

 _"You know tango suits you more though you'll never admit. You're passionate, courageous, bold and even wild sometimes…"_ he leans back and lies on the couch. His voice fades out at the end of the sentence.

Hermione sits up and pats away the wrinkles on her dress along with traces of getting involved in sexual activities. There are paparazzi almost everywhere. She will never want to be on the front page of the Witch Weekly. When she is sure enough that she looks normal, she looks over Malfoy and finds him with his eyes closed. His breath is deep and steady. He has fallen asleep.

She kneels next to him and watches him sleep. He is wearing a frown which she cannot help but stretch out her hand and places her thumb between his brows, trying to erase it. Before she notices what she has done, her lips have been already pressed to his forehead.

 _"Good night, birthday boy."_

* * *

 **A/N: The dance moves are so awfully written. I'm sorry about it. This chapter is kind of serious comparing to the previous ones and I love the little kiss on the forehead at the end of the chapter, which indicates Hermione is still having feelings for Draco. Hope you all enjoy it :)**


	5. The Break-Up

**The Break-Up**

Sunlight passes through the Slytherin green curtains, but the man on the couch is still not feeling like getting up. He moves his forearm to block out the sunlight and tries to be asleep again. It is the weekend. He feels grateful for it as he has a legitimate reason not to get up and work. He is not the type of person who does not go to work because he is the boss himself and no one can fire him. He is serious whenever it comes to his job.

Changing himself in a lateral position, he finds the "mattress" is not as soft as usual. He opens his sleepy eyes with only slits, and he realizes that he fell asleep on the couch the night before. He finds himself covered with a blanket, and a pillow has been placed under his head before trying to sit up. Placing his palm on his forehead because of the headache, he slightly regrets drinking too much alcohol and making himself have a hangover. Then, he sighs and mutters the name of the person which first comes to his mind.

"Hermione."

Although it is Sunday, Hermione still gets up early like usual. She does not feel energized because of the bad quality of the sleep. She cannot keep her mind off Malfoy after all the events - the party, the game, the dance and…

The kiss.

 _"Then it's fine for me to do this,"_ his voice is automatically played in her mind whenever she reminisces about the passionate kiss between them.

Hermione pats her face lightly with her palms, trying to bestir herself and keep her mind on her work. S.P.E.W. has just become a legal organization a few days ago, and there are still a lot of administrative affairs that she needs to deal with. She cannot and should not waste her weekend in bed or waste her time and energy by thinking about Malfoy. She knows that she should focus on her work and keep everything on track. But she cannot. After the confrontation with Malfoy yesterday, she cannot help thinking about their break-up. She stares out her study windows. The sun is nearly blinding. She cannot see a cloud in the sky. It takes her back to another sunny day about a year ago, the day the relationship between her and Malfoy ended.

* * *

Ginny asked her to meet up at a bar in Muggle London and have some girls talk. It was her day off, so she had plenty of time. It was a pity that Draco had some significant appointments. Therefore, they could not spend her rare day off together. The Department of Magical Laws Enforcement was the largest department in the ministry. It was one of the most important departments, and the workers were always busy and had lots of stuff to deal with every day, that's why Hermione had little time to be with Draco. She treasured her day-off so much and wanted the time to be well-spent. Although she could not spend her day with her beloved one, she could meet her best friend and catch up with the relationship between Ginny and Harry.

When Hermione arrived at the bar Ginny had mentioned, she did not see her friend anywhere. She decided to get into it first and wait for the red-haired to come inside the bar. She chose the seat in the back corner and ordered a glass of Juan Collins. She would like to have some refreshing lemon-flavoured cocktails in such a hot summer evening. Looking around and sipping the liquor in the meantime, she found a tall, slender man with eye-catching white-blond hair walked into the bar. She could not see his face as she was at the back of the bar. The hair of the man reminded her of her boyfriend Draco Malfoy, but she was sure that he would never appear in this place because he was supposed to have an important meeting. Besides, she didn't tell him where she was. The man sat at the table which was close to the door.

"Hermione!" she heard someone call her name.

"Ginny! I miss you!" Hermione stood up and hugged the Weasley.

Ginny got herself a Margarita and the girls started to chat nonstop. Most of the time, Ginny was the one who talked while Hermione was the listener. The main topic of the girls' talk was How Dumb the Chosen One can be in a Relationship.

"I'd cut my hair to shoulder length, and I asked him for opinions. 'Is there any difference?'" Ginny mimicked Harry's voice, annoyed. "For God's sake! How can he not find any difference? From waist length to shoulder length! His glasses don't help anything with his vision! Stupid Harry and his stupid glasses!"

"You know Harry never cares about the way you look. He loves the real you instead of the appearance. You know it, Ginny," Hermione held her friend's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I know it, of course. But every girl wants their boyfriends to notice the effort they've put into their looks! Harry and Ron will never understand how girls' brains work!"

"Maybe it's because they play Quidditch and are negligent about styles?"

"Draco also plays Quidditch! Do you see him wearing crumpled clothes like Ron? Does he ever act like Harry, never telling you how pretty you are or never noticing your beauty? Never! They're the problem ones,"

"Well, maybe you're right. By the way, why do we have to discuss Ron too?"

"I don't want to make Harry like a dumb. Compared to my brother, Harry is much better."

The girls kept talking before a man who was Ginny's colleague came over and invited her to join the colleagues' gathering. Ginny had hesitated before Hermione reassured her with a "go ahead, I'm fine" look. Hermione took a look at her watch and found it was about 9 pm, she was going to leave. Sipping the rest cocktails into her mouth, she got up and headed to the door. The bar was crowded at night as people always loved to come to relax after work. It was quite a struggle to leave. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice.

"Sweetie, you looked gorgeous,"

"Draco!" she could not help beaming and turned around, ready to see her boyfriend's handsome face.

However, no one was standing behind her. She was one hundred percent sure that it was his voice. She scanned around to search for the hint of Draco before her eyes were attracted to a tall and slender man who was leaning against the wall, a few meters away. Although the bar was dark, she knew his hair colour was white-blond. He was the man she saw earlier in the evening. A pair of arms was wrapped around the man's neck, and the man casually twirled the hair of a woman, in a semitransparent, red bodycon dress, with his finger. You could easily see the white bra and panties underneath the dress.

Usually, Hermione would undoubtedly be shocked by the sluttish dress the woman wore, but at that moment, she was thunderstruck by the identity of the man.

"Draco…"

Draco's hands began to roam over the woman's body. He grabbed her ass and pulled her closer. The slits on the side of the dress made it easy for him to access to the particular spot. Sliding his hand into the panties from behind, he buried his head into her neck and started sucking. Hermione did not want to see any more of this, she took a deep breath and walked to the pair. Maybe it was not Draco. Maybe it was because of the dim light, so she couldn't see well and mistook the man for Draco. She knew well that Draco loved her as much as she loved him.

"Excuse me," Hermione said tentatively.

"What the hell? I'm busy right now!" Draco looked up from the neck of the woman, annoyed. "What do you wa- Hermione…"

"So this is the important meeting?"

"Hermione, I-"

 _"I'm sorry to interrupt such a lovely moment, just continue what you're doing earlier. We're over,"_

Hermione tried her best to keep herself calm and force the tears not to fall when she was facing Draco. She did not want to look stupid and fragile in front of those two disgusting people. After turning around, tears started streaming down her face, and she ran out of the bar.

Why would he do this to her? Why that kind of thing would happen to her? She never thought about being cheated. She never thought that he would cheat on her. She thought that he had changed. She thought that he no longer was the arrogant, annoying, immature schoolboy. She thought he loved her from the bottom of his heart. She thought that he was loyal to her and would never betray her. She thought Draco Malfoy was the one.

Everything was only her delusion. Draco Malfoy was still the foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach. He had never changed. The one who had changed was herself who chose to believe him and persuaded her friends that he had changed. The brightest witch of her age was stupid to fall in love with Draco Malfoy.

* * *

"Every second you spend dwelling on the past is a second of your present that you are missing. I should really focus on my work," says Hermione to herself.

In the evening, when she is knitting hats for the elves with the help of magic, she finds an owl flies into the study through the opened windows. It perches on the desk with a letter in its beak. It is an eagle owl. From the colour of its feather and eyes, Hermione is almost sure that the letter is from…

"Draco," she takes the letter from the owl.

She opens the envelope quickly and feels a bit delighted (though she will never admit it) when she finds that it is his handwriting.

 _Granger,_

 _I didn't get your proposal. Come to my office on Monday at lunchtime. You know what will happen if you don't come._

 _Malfoy._

"What? 'I didn't get your proposal'? Whose fault is that? It's you who'd got himself drunk when I was explaining the plan to you! 'You know what will happen if you don't come'? Don't threaten me with money all the time! Don't bother to say that you'd donate a million if you never want to. Bastard," Hermione pushes away the parchment and stands up from the desk with her arms crossed.

Although Hermione is resentful at the attitude of Malfoy, she knows that she has to listen to him and do what he asks her to before he transfers the money to S.P.E.W. So, she still goes to his office as he asks her to at lunchtime on Monday.

Hermione knows that lunch break of Malfoy Holdings starts at 1 pm, which is half an hour later than that of S.P.E.W. Therefore, she has plenty of time to make sure everything is okay. She does not want to let Malfoy have any excuse to postpone the donation to affect her planning for the organization. Holding the file where she has kept all the materials, she walks into the fireplace with a handful of Floo powder.

"Malfoy Holdings"

She steps out of the fireplace and finds that she is at the reception. She looks around with a smile, feeling pleased to discover that everything is the same as before. She has not come here for a year, since their break-up. Standing here is like that everything has not changed to her as if she is still his girlfriend who comes to his office at least twice a week.

"Miss Granger?" the receptionist calls. "It's been a while since you've been here. Come to find Mr. Malfoy?"

Hermione nods.

"Did you make an appointment?"

"Oh… Sorry, I've forgotten to," Hermione feels dumb not to remember to do such an important thing. She is ready to head back to her own office and receive more threatening letters from Malfoy.

"It's fine. Mr. Malfoy is in his office,"

Hermione feels relieved. After she thanks the staff, she goes to the elevators and presses the "up" button. When she is waiting for one of the lifts to come down, she hears a man arguing with the receptionist.

"I want to see Mr. Malfoy! It's important!"

"Mr. Malfoy is very busy. He doesn't have time to see you. You can't come to see him without making an appointment,"

"But I have something very important to talk with him! Would you make an exception for me this time, please?" the man begs.

"There are strict rules set up by Mr. Malfoy himself. I really want to help you, but I just can't. I'm sorry. You can make an appointment with Mr. Malfoy now. I can help you call his assistance to check his schedule…"

The lift arrives. Hermione looks away from the reception and walks into the elevator and presses '30'. About ten seconds later, she is on the thirtieth floor, the top floor of the building. It's also the office of the boss of the biggest financial group in Britain. She heads to Malfoy's office and the assistant who is sitting outside greets her.

"Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy is now having a video conference. He said you could wait inside his office, but remember to keep quiet," the assistance girl who Hermione has met many times leads her to the room. She opens the door for Hermione.

"Thanks,"

Hermione steps into the office nervously. Finding Malfoy sits at his desk and staring at the computer, does not even have the time to spare her a glance, she takes a seat on the sofa and waits for him to finish the conference. Hermione eyes the office during the wait. Everything is still the same.

It is a high ceiling office with wood flooring. It has a large size of white colour accent, both the walls and ceilings are white. The false ceiling is designed in L box shape, with many tiny light bulbs attached to it. The use of full height glass windows let sunlight freely shine the room and makes it brighter. The whole room is black and white. It gives people the impressions of clean, simple and modern. Besides the desk, there are sofas and a tea table placed near the door. It is the recreation area of the office, where Hermione is sitting.

She has been a little bit early, so maybe she has to wait for a while. She takes out the paper from the file and starts revising the main points. She wants it to be a one-time thing. She wants it to be perfect. Well, technically it's a two-time thing- she has failed to present the campaign to Malfoy last time, but it is not her problem at her. It's not her who has told him to drink a whole bottle of Fire Whiskey. A responsible person should not drink at work, even on their birthday. It is not like she has expected Malfoy is responsible, but she still cannot be not mad at him.

15 minutes have already passed. Hermione takes a look at her watch; it is now five past 1. They should get started. They only get about an hour. She starts becoming impatient. Crossing her arms and tapping her forefinger against her upper arm, she stares at the blond man who talks.

"I want you to make sure the other branches are following the instructions,"

What? She expects him to talk to her instead of still staring at his laptop and giving instructions to his employees. Does he know what time it is now? Does he even know that she is here and waiting for him? He may not. He never takes his eyes off the monitor of the computer.

To let him know that she exists and is now waiting for him, short-tempered, she gets on her feet and begins to walk around the recreation area, banging her 5-inches heels on the wooden floor as hard as she can. She knows that she is acting childish, but she does not care. All she wants at the moment is to show him her existence. She wants him to spare a glance for her. But she fails. No matter how hard her heels hit the floor, he is still focusing on the conference he is now having.

She sighs. Her feet feel a bit exhausted and he still ignores her. She sits down again. This time, she starts making noise with her lever arch file. She makes it fall on the floor "accidentally", then picks it up and repeat the routine again. Hoping he will be annoyed by the sound and yell at her to stop doing this, she keeps hitting the floor with the thick file. However, all her efforts are in vain. He does not take a look at her.

She checks her watch one last time. Quarter to 2. Merlin's beard! She has already waited for him almost an hour!

 _IS HE DEAF? WHAT IS HE PLAYING AT?_

 _I'm going._

She picks up the file and gathers her things. She stands up and heads to the glass door, not wanting to waste her time here anymore. Pushing the door open, she feels the sudden warmth on the back of her hand. A pale hand is placed on the back of her hand. Looking up, she meets his silver gaze.

"The conference's not going well. But we can start now," he smiles at her and grabs her hand away from the door handle.

Before she can say anything, he pushes the door open and drags her out of the office to the lifts. He presses the "down" button, quickly, the elevator arrives, and he tows her inside the lift.

"We're not doing it in the office?" she asks incredulously. The sudden change of events makes her forget the long wait and feel surprised.

"Yes, but not when we still haven't had lunch."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for not updating. I've been busy at school and can't find much time to write! But I've finally written how Draco and Hermione broke up. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)**


	6. Lunchtime

**Lunchtime**

Hermione looks up and faces Malfoy, who's now smirking like an idiot.

"What do you mean lunch?" she asks in bewilderment.

"Seriously, Granger, why do people always say that you're the brightest witch of your age when you don't even know the meaning of 'lunch?'"

"I do understand what 'lunch' means, Malfoy! I'm just not sure about – you mean we're going to have lunch right now?"

"How clever you are, Granger! I'm really surprised," he sneers.

How dare he make fun of my cleverness!

Breaking the eye contact, Hermione looks down at her hand, their hands. They're still tangling together. Aware of the intimacy, she yanks her hand out of his grasp. Her heart is thumping like a horse's hoofs on a dirt road. She feels like she's become a silly school girl again, which makes her unaware of the slight disappointment on Malfoy's face when she broke the contact.

"No, I'm not going to have lunch with you," she says flatly, trying to ignore her extremely fast heartbeat. Malfoy is making her uncomfortable again.

"Yes, you're going to have lunch with me," he smirks.

"No,"

"Yes,"

"Malfoy, I don't want to, and I won't have lunch with you," she crosses her arms in front of the chest. She is having enough of Malfoy's game. All she wants is to have her work done as soon as possible so that she won't need to see the cunning blond again. "I'm just here to discuss work with you. Having lunch with you is beyond my scope of work,"

"But you're still going to have lunch with me because you need to,"

"Why?" she frowns.

"Because I want you to,"

She should've expected that answer. She's now dealing no one but Malfoy, the most arrogant git in the universe for God's sake!

"I'm not your servant," she glares at him, who's still smirking. She wants to punch his smirk off his handsome face like the last time when they were in the third year.

"No, you're not. But I want you to have lunch with me,"

His smirk wears off, looking no more mischievous nor silly, but serious. Staring at her intensely, he holds her hand tight in his. Hermione feels a bit guilty for insisting not to have lunch with him, and she doesn't dare to reject the hand-holding. She's afraid of breaking his fragile heart.

Feeling nervous, she begins to look around the elevator. Of course, nothing will catch her eyes. There's nothing in the lift beside the buttons and the monitor which shows which floor you are currently on. The screen is now showing "30."

"Malfoy, we forgot to press Ground," she states and stretches out her other hand to press the "G" button. "So, where are we going to eat?"

His eyes widen in surprise. He doesn't expect her to fulfil his unreasonable demand. The corners of his mouth twitch with a big grin.

"Anywhere you want."

Malfoy releases her hand when they walk out of the lift, which makes Hermione have a slight moment of disappointment though she would never admit it. They heads to the entrance shoulder-to-shoulder while Malfoy's being greeted politely by all the people they've walked pass. He's always idiotic around her, which makes Hermione almost forget that he's the revered boss of one of the biggest companies in Britain. While she's wondering how the employees think about their boss, Malfoy pushes and hold the glass door for her. Even she doesn't want to admit, Malfoy does have manners and is a gentleman, well, at least when they're not alone.

They go to a new Muggle Italian restaurant called Agrodolce, which is only a few metres away from Malfoy's company. There are not many people in the restaurant, probably because it's 2 pm now and almost everyone has their lunch already. The restaurant has installed a fancy chandelier in the beautiful ceiling and white round dining tables as well wooden floor. The shade caused by the luxury blue-grey curtains dims the sunlight to come inside the house, which makes every single corner of the venue look romantic. The romantic atmosphere, further enhanced by classical guitar music, is the first thing they've noticed upon entering the place. The second surely is the aroma of perfectly-prepared Italian dishes.

While waiting for the dishes to come, Hermione takes out the proposal from her bag and begins to present her ideas. Malfoy listens to her without interrupting and nods occasionally. After telling him all the things about Elves-Free Sunday, she asks for his opinions.

"I have to admit, the ideas are great. But, how many elves do you think will go to your centre every Sunday?"

"From the attitude of the society, we estimate there'll be about ten to twenty,"

"Ten of the lots in Britain? Blimey, Granger. There are thousands of them in Britain, and you think only less than one percent of them will be able to join the campaign. Then, what's the point of running the organization?" he scowls.

There's no sign of teasing her. His grey eyes are solid. She knows that he's always serious when things come to work.

"The number will increase after a period of time, after the pilot phase,"

"I know that improving the situation is a matter of time, but for how long? A year? Five years? Or a decade? Granger, you don't have lots of time to waste on this matter. You should put more effort in publicizing your organization and the campaign to raise the awareness of the world, instead of just using all the money on buying facilities to treat the elves like kings or queens,"

"Of course, I know! I've already put an advertisement in the Prophet! Over 80 per cent of wizards in Britain read the Prophet every day! Besides, we've been on the front page on the first day!"

"Granger, you do think that putting an advertisement on the advertisement page in the newspaper can actually help? No one reads that trash page; people just throw it into the fire without reading it. It's a waste of ink in my opinion. That's not the right way to promote something,"

"Fine! What should I do then?"

"Spend more money on promotion," he takes the fountain pen out of his breast pocket and starts to scribble on the proposal. He crosses out something and writes something else. "Spend at least 20 per cent more in my opinion. Then, have some informative interviews conducted by some famous journalists and have them published in all newspaper and magazine, even on Quibbler. You need to spend money when you don't have the attention of the society. You can spend less money on this matter when the situation has gone better,"

"Twenty? But Malfoy-"

Before Hermione can start an argument with Malfoy, the waitress brings them their meals. Hermione has only ordered herself a garden salad while Malfoy has ordered a spaghetti con le vongole.

"Are you on a diet?" he asks, nodding at the salad she's eating. "Granger, you should eat more. You're too thin,"

"I'm not hungry at all," she replies, then starts talking what has been interrupted by the waitress earlier. "Malfoy, are you sure we should-"

"No more work when we're eating," he calmly shuts her up.

Malfoy is the type of person who won't let work occupy his private time. It's not like he is a lazy person, he works hard and is busy all the time. But he knows when to let himself take a rest and have his own leisure time, unlike Hermione, who is always immersed in her work and works nonstop.

They eat in silence. Malfoy is always the one who brings up something, but he doesn't talk at all. He just keeps his mind on his spaghetti and doesn't bother to spare a glance at her. Hermione is not used to eating with someone without talking. She wants to find something to say, but she doesn't know what to say. All she can think of is their past, something she doesn't want to talk about anymore, something she wants to forget.

After they've finished and Malfoy pays for the meals, they leave the restaurant together.

Still in silence.

They've already finished eating. She can have work talk with him at last. She's had enough of the silence.

"Malfoy, do you think we should really spend two hundred thousand Galleons just on promoting in the coming five years?" she looks up at the blond wizard, who keeps his eyes ahead and his hands in the pockets.

"Yes, if you don't have better ways to promote. Well, to be honest, Granger, you're the heroine in the war and Potter is your friend, why don't you just ask him to speak up for you? It's the fastest way to raise the awareness of the society, just imagine what the media is going to report on the Boy Who Lived concerns about the treatment of house-elves," he answers emotionlessly, still not looking at her.

"Why didn't I think of that?" she can't help but wraps her arms around his neck and exclaims her excitement.

He's taken aback by the sudden hug. But he hugs her back and smiles.

"Because you're too Gryffindor to ever think of using your friends to help you succeed,"

She lets him go right after he finishes his sentence. Feeling her face heat up because of her recklessness, she turns around and continues to walk. She tries to pretend nothing's happened and hopes Malfoy won't care much about the hug. But little does she know that the man walking behind her is now grinning ear to ear.

"I'll contact you later, Malfoy," she says without turning around before she apparates back to her office.

That's the last thing she's said to Malfoy for a while.

Right after she's arrived her office. Hermione floo calls her best friend immediately.

* * *

Heading back to his office, Malfoy tries his best to keep himself from smiling and greets all the employees brightly in the process. When he arrives his private space, he can't help but shout like a Quidditch player who's won the World Cup. If he hasn't casted a Silencing Charm on the walls, all of his employees would hear him and wonder if their boss has gone crazy. He rarely loses his calmness, but Hermione always has a great effect on him.

They've already broken up for about a year. After their break-up, he didn't have the chance and was too ashamed to see her again. After all the things he'd done, he knew so well that she would never want to see him again.

But he missed her.

When he knew that she's going to hold an event to announce the founding of S.P.E.W., he felt so happy and excited for her. He wanted to be the first person to support her, even though his rational side told him not to. He knew he should let her go, but he couldn't. He told himself that he's just going to be her Daddy-Long-Legs, but he couldn't ignore the urge to see her again. He hesitated about whether attending the event of not. But his emotional side won the debate, and he decided to go at the last minute. Although he was late and was taunted by Hermione because of that, he was glad that he'd been with her on her biggest day.

However, sometimes he regrets what he has done to her, even he thinks it's worth it overall.

Because he loves her.

He has once asked himself if he could change one thing about himself, what he would change.

My last name. He didn't think much about the answer.

Being a Malfoy is too demanding for him that he cannot do whatever he wants or be with whoever he wants. Also, he has to fulfill the high expectations from his parents. Sometimes, he feels tired. But he knows, he's always a Malfoy, it's something he can never change nor deny.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows and humming a tune, staring down at the street unmindfully. He wonders when she will contact him and when he will be able to see her again. He hasn't felt so alive since their break-up.

At the moment, everything in the world looks fine and lovely.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is short, and I'm sorry for making you all wait so long. Hope you enjoy it!**


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